Scheduling and Routing Freight Trains with Multiple Cost Functions
This study presents a multi-objective optimization model for effectively scheduling and routing freight trains with minimum disruption caused to surrounding train traffic given the existing infrastructure capacity. Most existing timetabling policies around the world favor passenger train operations over the freight ones. The objective of the study is to facilitate freight operations with the proposed methodology. The optimization model is formulated here as a mixed integer program (MIP) which captures simultaneous scheduling and routing options of trains. The optimizer is applied to a real case scenario on the Brighton Main Line (BML) in southeast England. Given the network configuration, the optimizer is shown to be able to schedule and (re-)route requested freight trains with minimized additional costs induced to the system. The authors also examine selected scenario with marginal cost analysis and find that the train allocation process produced by the optimization model is somehow similar to existing practice in small scale applications, while the proposed algorithm is more systematic, generalizable to large-scale applications and multiple cost functions.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AR040 Standing Committee on Freight Rail Transportation.
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Chow, Andy H F
- Tan, E-Yang
- Ng, Ben
- Pavlides, Aris
- Bablinski, Konrad
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Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC, United States
- Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
- Date: 2016
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Web
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 15p
- Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Case studies; Freight trains; Infrastructure; Optimization; Railroad vehicle operations; Routes and routing; Timetables; Train operations
- Geographic Terms: England
- Subject Areas: Economics; Freight Transportation; Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01595788
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 16-4277
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Apr 11 2016 8:38AM